Memories of a Broken Doll
by kiiroyuri
Summary: I need to see you right now. I need to feel your touch. I need to know... if you're still mine. You will always be mine.
1. Chapter 1

**.:Memories of a Broken Doll:.**

_Why is it always dark here? It's so cold. There's something shimmering all around me. When night comes I can almost feel it clearly. It's water. The sun doesn't reach down to where I am so I didn't know. Why am I here?_

_How much time has passed?_

_... Am I alone... here?_

_Something... dark is coming down... A shadow... and bubbles? What is it? What's coming?_

"Mai, did you find anything?" Naru asked. Mai glanced over her shoulder a second then returned, without answering, to the bucket she was hauling up from the well.

"I knew there was something down there," she muttered to herself between breaths as she quickly tugged the rope towards her side so the bucket could rest on the stone walls of the well.

_A girl._

Mai picked it up and carried it out gently. It was a little smaller than she had expected, but water tended to give you different illusions anyway. The doll was old. It was rotting. Probably from being in the water too long. The clothes it was wearing were all still in tact but they were now rags and the colors were all but faded. Mai felt a shadow approach her and turned around. The doll transfered to equally gentle hands.

"Was this inside the well?" Naru asked, narrowing his eyes as though he could inspect it thoroughly like that.

"Yeah! I thought I saw something glinting and I thought that it might've been a coin or something but then the bucket suddenly fell," she explained quickly, pointing to the said bucket. "Then this floated to the top... then somehow I managed to capture it with the bucket..." Mai felt uneasy with her own explanation of events. It felt perhaps a little too much coincidental. How does one fish a doll from a well with just a bucket?

"We'll have Lin look at this," said Naru, already stepping away from the well.

Mai took one last look at the well where she found it, and then stared at Naru's back for a few moments. The kid who dropped the doll must have been pretty sad. The doll must've looked really pretty once upon a time. Shaking her head then, as if they would get rid of such thoughts, she started jogging after Naru.

"I wonder if it has anything to do with..."


	2. Chapter 2

DAY 2. Part 1.

_The sun... I know it feels good to be under the sun... but..._

_Am I just imagining these feelings? My skin... doesn't feel anything._

_My... skin...?_

"Mai," Naru's voice was cool and calm as always but it pierced through Mai's mind and violently shook her awake. "Stop slacking around and start preparing. The others will be here soon." Mai blinked for a second and then hung her head. She had slept again.

It'd be one thing if she started having those dreams again but there was nothing. There was no excuse for her sleeping again. Naru was going to fire her soon, she just knew it. She'd been sleeping on the job so much lately... Having finished with her thoughts, she hung her head again and let out a big sigh. Dredging off her seat she made her way out of the Base and to the kitchen.

"Taniyama-san," said a gentle voice just before her. Mai noticed immediately that she was about to bump into a tray. A chuckle.

"Oh! Usami-san, you were in the kitchen," Mai said with a sheepish grin. Usami Hiro, middle-aged, married with no children. He was the kindly type... with slight wrinkles around his eyes, showing that he'd aged quite a bit.

"I over heard that two more were going to arrive so I was just preparing some snacks," he said, smiling equally sheepishly at her.

"Oh there wasn't any need for that, Usami-san. But thank you!" Mai said looking up at him. "I'll get the tea ready so you can just sit down and relax!" Mai went past him and started rummaging the cupboards cheerfully. Usami set down the tray on the counter and sat down watching her equally cheerfully.

"Your parents must be very proud of you," Usami said after several minutes of silence. Mai nearly poured the hot water on herself in surprise and started blushing.

Laughing a little she said, "Well, I used to be quite the klutz when it comes to these things. It's only when I started this part-time job that I got better at it. How about you Usami-san? Those sandwiches you made looked so good, my mouth started watering just from looking at it."

"Would you like to try one?" Usami asked, pulling the tray towards him and then offering the plate to her.

"Yes please!" she said, taking one from the tray. "Uwaa...! This is so good!"

Usami laughed, cheeks reddening slightly in pleasure. "Really? Thanks. When my wife left, I started learning to cook by myself. Not bad for a man living on his own, huh?" Mai looked a little taken aback. Usami had mentioned that he was married, but said nothing at all about his wife, even after they'd taken the job.

"Where did your wife go, Usami-san?" Mai asked, trying her best to fake an innocent posture. It can't be that the wife left him... for divorce or anything right? Usami-san looked like such a nice person.

"She left for Europe to study music," Usami said, with sad look sinking into his eyes. "I... haven't heard from her for some years now."

"Eh!" Mai was surprised. For some years?

"We never fought, so I thought that our relationship was alright. Maybe..." Mai looked at the pain now etched in his face and regretted asking. "Do you play any instruments, Taniyama-san?" Mai shook her head in answer. "Well, if you ever feel like trying out piano, there's one in study, I'm sure you saw it, right? You're welcome to it any time."

"Thank... you," she said, looking at him. Both of their expressions were unreadable.

"Well," Usami said, being the first to break the tension with a poignant smile. "Do you want to learn how to make this sandwich?"

"Yes please!" Mai said enthusiasticly, taking the cue. Usami smiled kindly at her and reached out to pat her head. Mai looked up questioningly.

"It would have been nice to have had a daughter like you," he said, turning a little red again as he scratched his cheek. Mai let out a grin.

xoxoxox

_This man... again. What is he doing to me? Why are you looking at me like that? Why... why do you look so familiar...?_

_Get away from me._

"There's nothing special about this doll," Lin said, putting it down.

"Mai found it so at least keep it on the shelf where we can see it." Naru had replied without even turning to look at him. He was shuffling through some of the equipment.

"Yo! We're here!" suddenly appearing inside the room were Takigawa Houshou, the monk from Mt. Kouya and John Brown, an Australian priest.

"It's been a while!" John greeted.

"Thanks for coming," Naru greeted back, courteous as he could be. Not a second later Mai and Usami came through the door laughing about something or other with trays of tea and sandwiches with them.

"Nice timing!" Houshou instantly grabbed for a sandwich. "This is good!"

Mai and Usami caught each other's gaze and started laughing again. The rest just looked at them in amusement. Mai was usually the first person a client would warm up to, so it wasn't particularly unusual.

"How is your survey doing?" Usami asked after setting down the tray.

"We're analysing the data samples now," Naru reported. "I asked these two to come for a second opinion just in case it turns out to be a real ghost."

Mai quickly introduced the two newcomers to the client. "We've all worked together before." Usami nodded in acknowledgment, but his brow was still furrowed.

"A ghost..." he muttered. There was still some disbelief in his tone. "I don't understand how... I've lived here all my life. How did a ghost just suddenly...?"


	3. Chapter 3

DAY 2. Part 2.

Naru began, "For the sake of Bou-san and John, I'll explain from the beginning. Usami-san claims that he hears crying sounds at night, especially from the south wing. He had friends over one day, and in bright daylight, as he left to pick up someone else, those guests suddenly heard the crying sounds as well."

"Is it a child's crying?" John asked.

"No. But I believe it's female," Usami replied hesitantly.

"We asked Usami-san to leave the house for a while yesterday afternoon but no sounds came up. Nothing happened last night either."

"Well that's not surprising," Houshou said, shrugging his shoulders. He caught Usami's puzzled expression and explained. "Supernatural presence dislikes outsiders, so it's normal for any actions to subside for some time."

"Has there been anything else beside the crying?"

Usami looked down cast but replied to John's question anyway. "Every single picture in this house... which has either myself, my wife... or my brother, has been torn to pieces."

"Where is your wife and your brother now?" Houshou asked.

"My wife is in Europe. My brother..."

"Has been missing for some time," Naru completed for him. "We're still processing the data from yesterday. We might have to stay a little longer until something actually comes up."

"So what do you want us to do?" Houshou inquired, suddenly shifting his eyes to the rest of the room.

"Maybe look around at the south wing and see for yourself if you find anything strange."

"Why didn't you ask Hara Masako to come? She's the specialist here," Houshou asked with a strange smirk on his face.

"She's busy, else I wouldn't have asked either of you to come," Naru replied cooly. Though from Houshou's point of view, Naru had made it sound as if he was dealing with leftovers and it pricked him a little. So much for trying to tease him.

"Well if you were that disappointed, then you at least had another girl here with you, if that's what you preferred," Houshou retorted, a vein throbbing dangerously in his temple.

"It's true, Mai could probably sense something... if she wasn't so busy sleeping here all the time," he replied just as cooly. This time the throbbing vein transferred to Mai's temple.

Mai thought, "I wish I could say something back but I can't because he's right! I've been sleeping a lot but no dreams are coming. Well I'm so sorry I can't dream when I want to... you narcisstic... gah!" Mai held her breath and counted slowly until the vein would fade away, but to no avail. "Well!" she said then. "I'll show them where the rooms are then!"

"Ah, Mai-" Usami called out, and she stopped halfway, looking back questioningly. "The tea will get cold..."

"..."

xoxoxox

_Who's there? I know you're... someone's there. Where are you...? ... Hey..._

"No matter how you look at it, there's nothing suspicious here," Houshou said, rubbing his head after the long afternoon of inspection. Now they were back at the Base again enjoying cool drinks.

"I don't know about that," John said, tilting his eyes upward thoughtfully. "There was something a little strange about one of the rooms at the back."

"What was it?" Naru asked.

"Well... if I had to describe it... It was... kinda small." Houshou nearly choked on his drink.

"Small?" he said incredulously. "We didn't go to any small rooms in this house. This place is practically a mansion! All the rooms could turn to living rooms if he so wished!"

"Oh no, this place is not that big," Usami said modestly, rubbing his head a little in embarassment.

"Well..." John just left it at that.

"Mai," Naru turned to her. "Take the tape measure and start checking the areas of the rooms."

"Alright," she said, standing up immediately.

"What are you thinking?" Houshou asked.

"We still haven't managed to detect anything out of ordinary, so for now we should just check for anything anyone thinks is strange."

"What happens if you still won't be able to detect anything after some time?" Usami asked, looking at Naru directly.

"Then I'm afraid that our team will have to leave the compound for some time," he said, very bussinesslike. "Of course we'll leave the equipment here. The spirit will then probably start showing itself."

"...Thank you." Usami looked somewhat relieved at that. "I just... I hope that this... thing won't get anymore violent that it already has." He was thinking about the torn pictures he'd had to throw away. "I just... don't understand."

"Usami-san, if you don't mind I would also like to talk to your contact at the police station- whoever that is handling the investigation of your missing brother," Naru said. Usami nodded compliantly. "And if you have any contacts that could possibly know the location of your wife..."

"My wife's family... but they've stopped talking to me a long while ago," he said with some traces of bitterness.

"Any lead will help."

"I will go and help Mai now," John said, leaving his seat. Houshou watched him silently as he left the room and then turned to Naru.

"Well, what do you want me to do now?"

"Usami-san has been doing the housework all day long. Why don't you give him a hand?"

"..."

The nerve popped up again. Houshou thought, "Just who does this brat think I am... ... but... It'd be good to know the layout of this house better. ... Darn this kid, why can't he just phrase it differently!"


	4. Chapter 4

DAY 2. Part 3.

"Here are the measurements!" Mai said with flourish as she handed in the clipboard. It was late in the afternoon, just about dusk when they finally finished. "We crosschecked with the size of the house from the outside too. It seems consistent enough." John was nodding fervently beside her.

"But when I entered that room again, it really did feel smaller. But the measurements add up so I'm a little confused."

"Here. Mark on the map where that room is," Naru said, handing him another sheet of paper. "We'll probably need to do some extra measurements then."

"Where did Usami-san and Bou-san go?" Mai asked, looking left and right inside the room. The only other person in there was Lin, as always, keeping watch on the equipment, his back faced to the rest of the world.

"Doing housework. Why don't you two follow his example and help Usami-san too?" Naru suggested. Taking the clipboard away and now heading towards Lin.

"Do... housework?" Mai looked at him incredulously. It was one thing thinking about Houshou in an apron dusting things, which really is funny, but Naru telling them to do housework...?

"Well you can leave if-"

"Naru!" Lin called suddenly. Lin quickly turned up the speakers.

It was there. The sound of a woman crying. For a moment everybody held their breaths.

"Where is it coming from?" Naru asked, now searching the television panels for any visual clues.

"The microphones in the south wing. All of them."

"All?" Naru was puzzled. He narrowed his eyes towards the screens that showed the rooms in that area. "Where's Usami-san?" Mai and John hurried up to join searching for him on the panels.

"There!" John cried out. "He's in the living room on the opposite end with Bou-san."

It stopped. They held their breath again.

"Usami-san..." Mai looked at the panel John had pointed out. Usami-san and Bou-san were playing around in the living room. "What are they doing with those... towels..." All eyes turned to that panel. Mai was suddenly showing a disgruntled look. "Why are they playing around in this kind of situations! Do they really know how to do housework properly!" Mai went out immediately, looking as if she was going to give someone an earful.

"But it looks like fun," John said, almost as an afterthought, managing a weak smile at the panel.

Ayako.

xoxoxox

"We still haven't found anything conclusive," Naru said, looking almost irritated with himself. The group were gathered again in the Base after a hearty dinner. "We'll stay another day and if nothing happens then we'll leave this house for a while until more data comes up."

"Nothing conclusive?" Mai exclaimed. "But didn't we all hear the-"

"Yes," he cut shortly. "Which is why we'll stay another day taking more surveys in this area. If the environment is the cause of the sounds, then it won't matter that we go off elsewhere for the time being."

"What about the pictures...?"

"We can't rule out pranks either."

"Naru!" Mai looked incredulous.

"Calm down, Mai," Houshou said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's not like Naru's giving up on the case. It'd be for the best if we leave for some time. If there is a spirit, then the chances of getting more data after we go will be even higher."

"I know that," Mai said meekly, not quite understanding why she had something to say against it in the first place.

"Are you saying that it'll be better if we stayed?" Naru asked, looking at her directly in the eye. Mai took a step back suddenly as if she was about to be hit.

"I... don't know," she said, blushing.

"I see." Naru didn't lose the grip of his gaze. Mai couldn't say for sure, but Naru looked like he was asking for her gut feelings. It was established that she had some sort of ESP that would turn on when there was danger, but... . There was nothing concrete she could tell him... . There were no dreams, no bad feelings or anything... she just... Well, she didn't know why she tried to oppose him anyway. "We'll decide on whether to leave or not tomorrow then."

"Thank-" she started saying, almost sheepishly, but was cut off by a sudden ring. It was the doorbell. "Now who could that-"

"I think Usami-san said he called for somebody was going to come down and visit here. Something about that, it might help for her to be here so then he could tell us..." Houshou looked at his sudden avid audience and grinned. "Well. You'll see."

"Bou-san!" Mai cried out in exasperation. But Houshou wouldn't give in. They all waited in silence, unsure what to do until a soft knock came at the door. Mai opened it cheerfully. "Usami-sa-.. eh?"

This must have been the guest. She was a stylish lady, middle-aged, perhaps. Beautiful in her own way, clothes in colors that only complimented her healthy facial tones. In middle-aged language? This lady was a babe. Houshou had a twinkle in his eye that Mai didn't particularly like. She poked him on the side to wake him up.

"I'm sorry. My name is Suzuki Ayako. Usami-san told me that I should introduce myself to... you. You are all from Shibuya Psychic Research?" The lady's eyes scanned the room. Her gaze flickered in the direction of Naru and Lin but otherwise, she seemed alright.

"Pleased to meet you!" Mai returned the introduction by introducing herself and everyone else there to her.

"If you could explain to us why Usami-san thought you should meet us...?" Naru cut to the chase.

"Yes, of course." Mai asked the lady to sit down first so they could all properly listen to her.

"I was his sister-in-law you see," she began. Mai perked up suddenly. Didn't Usami-san say that he had no contact with his wife's family for a while? But what was with the past tense? "I know my last name is different, but I was married to his brother. We divorced 3 years ago." After a lengthy pause she decided to elaborate. "I divorced Shouji because I found out he had been... conducting affairs with someone. After the divorce I never saw him again."

"Suzuki-san, I'm sorry for you," Houshou started. "But I don't see how it has anything to do with the problem at hand."

"Of course. I'll explain. This is of course, above anything only my theory. It is only a theory," she repeated to herself, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. "My divorce, was around the same time Hiro-san was having troubles here as well. His wife was acting strangely. We often sit down and discuss these things together and even if Hiro-san doesn't want to admit it, but there is a possibility that Shouji was having an affair... with Hiro-san's wife."


End file.
